Guard Frequency Episode 102 | Children of the MacCombe

Greetings Citizens and Civilians, you’re tuned to episode 102, of Guard Frequency — the best damn space sim podcast ever! This episode was recorded on Saturday 9th January 2016 and released for streaming and download on Tuesday January 12th 2016 at GuardFrequency.com[Download this episode]

Tony, Lennon and Geoff are back in the hangar for the second episode of the expanded Guard Frequency, as we bring you news from across the space sim genre.

To kick us off, wait… it’s a bird, it’s plane, no, wait, it’s actually a flying donkey. After that we check out the news that’s landed on the Flight Deck where we discuss:

and more! Finally, we tune into the Feedback Loop and let you join in on the conversation.

This Week’s Community Questions

Interstellar Politics! Elite has Powerplay and Star Citizen is set to mirror the collapse of the Roman Empire, but what’s your view on politics? Do you wish more games would include ways to dominate on a political level, or do you prefer to vote with lasers and torpedoes?

Priority One Productions are always looking for new team members that have a passion for space sims. Please know that all of our positions are volunteer, but we do offer a well known outlet for your work. If you have a particular skill that you believe could enhance our content, then send your contact information and experience along with a few writing samples to squawk@guardfrequency.com

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Comments (6)

Ostron

I like the idea of politics being an active, driving part of the games but I think a good system has to be actively monitored by the devs or a dedicated monitoring group. There are too many games that have a token nod to making political factions but said systems usually only provide a different set of skins or trinkets and no actual political events or decisions ever take place. Either that, or there is no restriction on belonging to multiple and occasionally conflicting political groups in the name of acquiring all possible SWAG.

So it’s a great idea in theory, but unless/until game devs are willing to risk “limiting” players by making political choices result in real lasting consequences, either at an individual or global level, I’d rather they just not bother.

David DeCosta

I think (hope) you guys are way off base when it comes to when CIG is going to drop persistence. Persistence coming at the end of 2016 would be DISASTROUS. Shopping, economy, trading, mining, bounty hunting, every single profession relies on PERSISTENCE. I think Chris misspoke and got himself twisted up when he was referring to this year versus last year.

I think of single player games like Mount and Blade Warband where internal group politics are a fun addition to the game play. I could see a game like Fallout 4 with its settlement building benefiting from similar gameplay. The space sim genre is no different.

Persistent online multiplayer games however are different. If players can form groups, there will be politics involved. A game that supports that activity with meaningful gameplay could be very fun.

I think back on Star War Galaxies and the city I ran on Naboo. Playing as the mayor of a small player city was a lot of fun and the game supported that sort of play through its mechanics.

Star Citizen for example, with its player organizations could very well benefit from built in tools for organizing these groups, communicating between members, and coming to group decisions. Politics are definitely involved.

When you turn political game play onto the larger world of the game, things need to be considered carefully. I would want a heavy NPC / game dev influence on political power that can’t help but affect the wider player base.

In other words, let the players vote for NPC politicians on the galactic stage, but not assume those positions themselves. If it’s a question of being the mayor of their own outpost on some “little moon” then by all means!

Sao

In a game like Star Citizen, politics will help shape the galaxy so just as citizens in RL, people will be involved at different levels or not at all. How it affects how we live is inherent to life. It’s a must to have a living, breathing universe.